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Charles Mingus

Biography

Bassist, composer, pianist, bandleader, and poet, Charles Mingus was a creative whirlwind. He began his career as a Bop and Cool Jazz player in New York City, before forming the Jazz Composer's Workshop in 1952. In 1955, Mingus started his own group, known as the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop. A year later, Mingus enlisted drummer Dannie Richmond, who was to become his lifelong partner in rhythm. And thus began Mingus's creative explosion. He wrote a series of tunes that featured Gospel-inflected shouts, raucous blues, and Ellington-esque arrangements, showcased on the albums Blues and Roots, Mingus Ah Um, and Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus. He enlisted a big band and recorded a masterpiece of modern music, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. He also toured Europe with a quintet, featuring the great Eric Dolphy. In 1977, after a short retirement and before his death, he recorded two more small combo albums, both entitled Changes. A virtuoso bassist and composer, Mingus irrevocably changed the face of jazz.